https://theathletic.com/5258158/2024/02/09/mlb-farm-system-rankings-2024/

 

Didn't expect us to make Top 10. 

8 minutes ago, SoCalChiSox said:

https://theathletic.com/5258158/2024/02/09/mlb-farm-system-rankings-2024/

 

Didn't expect us to make Top 10. 

I did after he ranked 5 guys in the top 100

Giving Sox kudos on development.

Hopefully he is right

Ten our so years ago, he had us ranked 12thish out of nowhere.  He had some decliners still ranked, such as that pitcher we got in the Edwin Jackson trade.

That ranking lasted about 1 season.

Hopefully, this one has more staying power, and I think it will.

Quote

10. Chicago White Sox
Not to denigrate Chicago at all, as this is about as good as their system has ever looked — I believe five guys on my top 100 this year is tied for the most the White Sox have ever placed — but I think in a typical year, this is more a median farm system than a top 10 one. They did extremely well in last summer’s trade binge, they’ve hit on a couple of recent high drafts, and we’ve seen guys develop in that system to a degree that we hadn’t seen in some time. It also should give Sox fans hope that some of the high-upside guys who haven’t performed that well yet, like the just-acquired Jake Eder, might make good on their abilities with better performances. I doubt they’ll do it, but trading Luis Robert while he still has time left on his contract could push them into the top five.

 

Not shocked at all.  I thoguht they should be higher than the middle-late teens I've been seeing.

I would love to see someone start ranking on process rather than actual prospects. I like the Sox top 5 in some order -- Montgomery, Schultz, Quero, Ramos, Nastrini -- but the ceiling and probability both drop off a cliff after that. I'd start to feel more comfortable if Mike Shirley is given a free hand to grab high-ceiling high school guys in the early rounds (I'm hopeful) and the Sox change their LatAm strategy to start pulling in the younger, higher-priced teens.  Right now, the improvements in their system seem like a mirage based on one great late first-rounder and trades.  I'd just like to see the Sox develop an actual pipeline where every year they're adding multiple future major leaguers instead of 2nd rounders who end up as org players and international signing like Yolbert Sanchez.

Law's write-up of Sox prospects is out.
I could post his top 20, but I don't know if that's appropriate.

32 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

Law's write-up of Sox prospects is out.
I could post his top 20, but I don't know if that's appropriate.

Top 20 + snippets from a few write-ups is fine. We just don't want people dumping an entire article.

Interesting bit on Colson:

Quote

The consensus on his defense has shifted for the better, and it’s probably about even money that he stays there in the eyes of the industry, with good reads and soft hands along with plenty of arm for that side of the dirt. I’m betting that the version of Montgomery we saw last year, including the tight, slow look in the Arizona Fall League, is the result of rust and continued recovery.

Gonzalez:

Quote

I’m not here to bury the guy, and I think he still offers a soft everyday upside, but I understand fans’ frustration given who else was on the board at that pick — including eight players on my top-100 list right now.

Fletcher:

Quote

He’s never hit left-handed pitching enough to play every day but has a long history of production against right-handers.

 

 

1.       Montgomery

2.       Quero

3.       Ramos

4.       Nastrini

5.       Schultz

6.       Eder

7.       Gonzalez

8.       McDougal

9.       Cannon

10.   Taylor

11.   Leasure

12.   Wolkow

13.   Berroa

14.   Keener

15.   Rodriguez

16.   Hernandez

17.   Pallette

18.   Oppor

19.   Veras

20.   Fletcher

Others:  Deloach, Tatum, Bush, Ellard, Shewmake, Turner, Burke, Lacombe

He says that the system is the best it’s been in 15 years.  And we know it’s ranked #10.  But to me that’s still seems a little odd with his comments on our #7 Gonzalez (soft regular upside; 8 current top 100 players were available at that time in the draft); and Fletcher #20 (certainly Mena would have been top 10, so he can’t have liked that trade).

https://theathletic.com/5257706/2024/02/13/white-sox-2024-top-prospects-keith-law/?source=user_shared_article

1. Colson Montgomery SS (22) Everyday SS / 3B with 4-5 WAR upside.
2. Edgar Quero C (21) .350 OPS starting catcher.
3. Bryan Ramos 3B (22) Might be 30 HR occasional All Star.
4. Nick Nastrini RHP (24) SP4 +
5. Noah Schultz LHP (20) Tons of risk, SP1 / Top RP Upside
6. Jake Eder LHP (25) Starter potential, probability waning.
7. Jacob Gonzalez SS (22) Never had so many pro scouts with a negative opinion on a 1st rounder.
8. Tanner McDougal RHP (21) 2024 will provide better sense of potential.
9. Jonathan Cannon RHP (23) Probably a RP, understand urge to start him.
10. Grant Taylor RHP (22) I like the upside play here.
11. Jordan Leasure RHP (25) Best pure stuff in system. Needs control.
12. George Wolkow OF (18) Huge power, tons of swing and miss.
13. Prelander Berroa RHP (24) Definitely a big leaguer.
14. Seth Keener RHP (22) Doesn’t know if he can hold up over bigger workload.
15. Jose Rodriguez INF (23) MLB Utility Infielder.
16. Ronny Hernandez C (19) 3-4 years away, could be a valuable starter.
17. Peyton Pallette RHP (23) Hoping for more, 2024 will tell the tale.
18. Christian Oppor LHP (19) Raw, nice arm, assume reliever.
19. Wilfred Veras OF (21) Has to tighten up swing decisions.
20. Dominic Fletcher OF (26) Platoon reserve OF.

38 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Jacob Gonzalez SS (22) Never had so many pro scouts with a negative opinion on a 1st rounder.

WOOF

On 2/9/2024 at 10:18 AM, DirtySox said:

but trading Luis Robert while he still has time left on his contract could push them into the top five.

I hope JR doesn't have an Athletic sub

19 hours ago, GreenSox said:

 

1.       Montgomery

2.       Quero

3.       Ramos

4.       Nastrini

5.       Schultz

6.       Eder

7.       Gonzalez

8.       McDougal

9.       Cannon

10.   Taylor

11.   Leasure

12.   Wolkow

13.   Berroa

14.   Keener

15.   Rodriguez

16.   Hernandez

17.   Pallette

18.   Oppor

19.   Veras

20.   Fletcher

Others:  Deloach, Tatum, Bush, Ellard, Shewmake, Turner, Burke, Lacombe

He says that the system is the best it’s been in 15 years.  And we know it’s ranked #10.  But to me that’s still seems a little odd with his comments on our #7 Gonzalez (soft regular upside; 8 current top 100 players were available at that time in the draft); and Fletcher #20 (certainly Mena would have been top 10, so he can’t have liked that trade).

So he's saying the 2018-19 classes with Moncada Giolito (might have lost eligibility) Lopez Dunning Cease Jimenez Kopech would be ranked behind the current group with most of the focus on Montgomery Schultz?

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

So he's saying the 2018-19 classes with Moncada Giolito (might have lost eligibility) Lopez Dunning Cease Jimenez Kopech would be ranked behind the current group with most of the focus on Montgomery Schultz?

Yes, I think that the #10 ranking is incongruent with his analysis.  But, the best I can glean is that he thinks that there's more depth in the system. He does have positive things to say about the prospects ranked in the teens and 20s.

https://soxmachine.com/2024/02/podcast-how-the-white-sox-farm-system-is-improving-with-keith-law/

Great listen! Not surprising, how much Williams was involved in the draft room and going the conservative route. Looks like a great parting gift from Kenny with drafting Gonzalez.  So glad that idiot is gone! 

Edited February 16, 20242 yr by PolishPrince34

That's not true.  Kenny was not the one who pushed to draft Gonzalez.  I mean come on. Kenny was conservative?

One quibble with Mr Law.  His favorite book "Jonathan Strange...." was unreadable.  I threw in the towel at 100 pages.

I have enjoyed other of his  book recommendations.  

13 hours ago, GreenSox said:

One quibble with Mr Law.  His favorite book "Jonathan Strange...." was unreadable.  I threw in the towel at 100 pages.

I have enjoyed other of his  book recommendations.  

One of my favorite books of all time. Her other novel Piranesi was just as good.

8 minutes ago, bmags said:

One of my favorite books of all time. Her other novel Piranesi was just as good.

I never read Harry Potter.  Perhaps that's a primer to full appreciation of talking gargoyles and angels dancing on the heads of pins.

Just lol if you think Keith Law doesn't hate the White Sox

I liked Law when he was with ESPN.  Very knowledgeable. I still remember his immediate reaction when the Sox traded Tatis in the bungled Shields trade.  He was right on.

11 hours ago, ron883 said:

Just lol if you think Keith Law doesn't hate the White Sox

He really likes Chris Getz 

The fact we drafted Gonzalez is really depressing to me. Hopefully anyone involved with that decision no longer works in the organization. Complete waste of a pick